Galley Proof 22/06/2018; 10:12 File: bmr–1-bmr171015.tex; BOKCTP/ljl p. 1 Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation -1 (2018) 1–6 1 DOI 10.3233/BMR-171015 IOS Press Effects of robot assistive upper extremity rehabilitation on motor and cognitive recovery, the quality of life, and activities of daily living in stroke patients Derya Zengin Metli, Sibel Özbudak Demir, ˙ Irem Erakta¸ s, Vildan Binay Safer and Timur Ekiz ∗ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey Abstract. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of robotic rehabilitation on upper extremity functions, cognitive development, and activi- ties of daily living in patients with subacute stroke. METHODS: This study was set as prospective and controlled. Subjects with subacute stroke were allocated into two groups as the robotic and control groups. All subjects received a conventional rehabilitation program five times a week for 3 weeks. In addition, robotic group received robotic rehabilitation five times a week for 3 weeks (30 minutes per session). RESULTS: There were 20 patients in the robotic group (mean age of 63.27 ± 3.88 years) and 15 patients in the control group (mean age of 59.25 ± 8.10 years). Compared with baseline, the Functional independence measure (both motor and cognitive subscale), Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) Scale, and Motricity Index values did increase in both groups. Change levels of FMA shoulder/elbow/forearm, and MI shoulder scores were significantly higher in the robotic group than the control group (p< 0.05). Compared with the baseline, physical component summary scores improved only in the robotic group, yet motor component summary scores improved only in the control group. Although Brunnstrom levels increased in both groups compared with baseline, change levels were similar. CONCLUSION: In the light of our results, robotic rehabilitation in addition to the conventional rehabilitation program seems to be effective on improving motor recovery and the quality of life in subacute stroke patients. Keywords: Cerebrovascular accident, robotic rehabilitation, motor recovery, activities of daily living, the quality of life 1. Introduction 1 Upper limb impairment in stroke patients still re- 2 mains a considerable and challenging problem despite 3 the use of several rehabilitative approaches [1]. On the 4 other hand, robotic rehabilitation in upper limb impair- 5 ment is relatively new, and there has been increasing 6 * Corresponding author: Timur Ekiz, Ankara Fizik Tedavi ve Re- habilitasyon E˘ gitim ve Ara¸ stırma Hastanesi, Türkoca˘ gıSok. No:3 , 06100 Ankara, Turkey. Tel.: +90 312 310 32 30; Fax: +90 312 311 80 54; E-mail: timurekiz@gmail.com. utilization with its advantages such as safe and well 7 tolerated [2]. 8 Previous studies have established the beneficial role 9 of robotic therapy in upper limb rehabilitation after 10 stroke [3–6]. American Heart Association/American 11 Stroke Association has recently published a new guide- 12 line and reported that robot-assisted movement train- 13 ing in addition to the conventional therapy is benefi- 14 cial for patients to improve motor function and mo- 15 bility after stroke [7]. Moreover, Choi et al. [8] stud- 16 ied the effects of robotic rehabilitation on neglect, and 17 they found similar effects with the conventional reha- 18 bilitation that they administered. They concluded that 19 ISSN 1053-8127/18/$35.00 c  2018 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved uncorrected proof version